Before the Mastermind (Strong fear Weak)
by Wolveblade
Summary: Many different "Flash backs" into the past of the Grey-eyed gentleman/Blue-eyed mastermind. They won't be in a set order, so think of them as random thoughts into his past if you want.


**Meeting the Misses**  
_Mistral Outskirts_  
A 13 year old Jaune sat under the shade of a patch of trees near Mistral's main road. It'd been about a year since his first attempt at changing his destiny and well it was a roller coaster that started with a further nose dive. But they say once you hit rock bottom that the only way to go was up. And that was true, now he didn't have pride and naviety clouding his judgement. He had learned from his mistakes and started doing what he could to grab every skill he could. Theft, lock picking, climbing, fist fighting, and recently he'd "happened" upon a dagger. His skill sets didn't stop there he was studying where he could, learning to use his words to sway people, and even skills thought to be house wife material. But unlike those spoiled idiots he understood the need for being able to take care of everything from food to clothes, from first aid to combat. No skill lacked use and many inane skills had potential to be applied in other fields or to bolster other skills.

Right now he was waiting for a carriage to pass by. While uncommon there were still people that moved product by carriage and it was in these little caravans that he'd have the best chance to slip into the city without an ID. He couldn't risk getting caught by authorities or else he'd be returned to the foster system and would be stuck in the gutter like before, but with a tighter leash. The boy shuddered remembering cold dead dark grey eyes his own briefly flashing to said color as a creepy calm took over the boy. "I hope the other guy got out of there when he could" Shaking his head while closing his eyes he clears his head and opens his eyes revealing their normal ocean blue color. A relieved breath escaping his lungs as he spotted what he was looking for before a sour look crossed his face.

The carriage while large wasn't what he'd been originaly hoping for. This wasn't some small family merchants coming to sell goods at Mistral. Sure it looked it from the outside from the youngish teen reading a marketing book or the man dressed in decently stylish clothes manning the reins. There was an obvious lack of trained protection, or anything necessary to travel safely to Mistral, but it was the glimpse into the carriage's covered space that really killed his "hope", white shapes and a couple pairs of glowing eyes. Faunus or more specifically that group of criminals that claimed to be the White something. Now don't get Jaune wrong he held nothing against faunus as a people. They were just as bad as humans equally ignoring those less fortunate then them. But he'd come into a run in with the recent fanatics when he'd tried to scalp some dust off the top off a dust shipment from the SDC being delivered to a military fort somewhere else on the continent. They were nothing more then racist extremists that were worse then the bigotted humans they claimed were oppressing them.

Jaune sighed and dragged his hand down his face in exasperattion. Guess that meant he'd have to wait a few more days for the next carriage or cart to pass b- His planning was interupted by his gut twisting and groaning to remind him he hadn't eaten in the last 2 days. He still had a loaf of stale bread, but that wouldn't tide him over long enough to wait for another chance and have the strength to pull off what he needed. "Fuck that means I'm going to have to take a chance again. The universe can really go screw itself for forcing me into so many lose lose choices." He muttered under his breath as he ran his hand through his long blonde hair. He hadn't taken the time to get it cut at first and slowly had learned that it was actually a boon. Apparently he looked enough like a girl that he got more sympathy points. His years of putting up with his sisters antics having let him perfect talking like a girl if only to get them off his back faster came in handy as he could now pass off as a girl when needed.

With his limited options being cut even further down with his need for food coming to the forefront Jaune decided to go with a rather basic, but ballsy plan. As he focused on his aura it flickered to life an odd chaotic mesh of dark grey and pure white. He stuck a hand full of sticks into his hair and dumped the last of the some rotten tomato juice over his back. His hands went to work styling his hair enough for his aura to harden 2 small lumps to look like small bear ears. His raggety outfit selling the picture of a discarded child left to fend for themselve 'How ironic a role to play' as "she" stumbled out of the clearing bleary eyed and on the verge of tears. The blonde making it to the middle of the road before finally "collapsing".

Sienna sat in the carriage with a rather displeased look on her face. Her recent rise to High leader was as rocky as it was sudden the amount of work needed to recreate their movement. She'd barely been in the position for a few months before she had to go about and meet with the varying branches to consolidate her power as high leader. Making the necessary promises and shows of ideals to keep the people following her. Some people weren't the most open to the more violent ways her regime was handling things. So she was having to personally go around and change their minds with proof, honeyed words, and speeches. 'No wonder High Leader Belladonna always looked so tired when he wasn't infront of the people this job is draining.'

Sienna's thoughts were interupted by the sudden stop of her transport. They were currently heading back to their base near Mistral so she could get back to work planning and leading at the helm again. Her faunus ears twitching at the voices of her subordinates talking the words girl, rotten smell, and collapsed being caught at her sudden focus on the surroundings. 'Is this an ambush? No one should know what route we're taking and the 2 out front don't have obvious faunus heritage.' Her Orange eyes turned to look out the small opening in the front allowed by the flap to allow some air flow to keep them from suffocating in stale air. And she spotted the commotion's center a young blonde child collapsed on the road.

Perry the snake faunus thanked his lucky stars he wasn't a canine faunus like his partner Stone. The guy looked ready to vomit from the smell of rotten fruit on the girl. The poor faunus girl looked to have been run out of her town and quite physically. The signs of malnutrition showing on the girl with the poor excuse for clothes she wore stained in multiple places with dirt, grim, and what he assumed was food stains from being pelted. Stone was to busy trying to shove stuff in his nose to block the mixed smells of the girl to actually do anything. So he figured it was up to him to inform the high leader what was going on. As he turned to head toward the carriage a soft broken effeminite voice spoke up in a tone that human ears would've missed. "P-please don le-leave me *wheeze* here" both Stone and Perry cringed at the pathetic plea as they saw the girl lift up a small bag with out lifting her head as if using what little strength she had to accomplish it. "I can p-p-pay you *dry cough* I have l-li-lien, Please" The broken whine that formed the final please struck like a knife to the 2 guys.

Everyone inside the cart cringed collectively the silence that had decended from stopping having allowed them all to hear the girl. Even Sienna couldn't help from reacting to that plea. So when Perry came to the carriage to inform her of the exact details of the situation she sighed in exasperation. They really shouldn't be stopping for anything with the fang's recent actions drawing more law enforcement attention to them they couldn't waste time. Yet how could she just leave one of her people on the ground starving and alone to most likely die. Humans weren't likely to pick the girl up no matter how pathetic she looked, but faunus rarely traveled these roads since they rarely had jobs that required it or paid enough to travel.

Jaune sat quietly pretending to be unconcious as he was sat on the floor of the cool, but crowded carriage. He made sure to make his breaths shallow and rhytmic with the ocassional hack to keep up the part. He really got lucky that his little ploy with the fake ears worked since they wouldn't hold up to scrutiny. Luckily his plan had used the adults' sense of pity and sympathy to make them focus on other things rather then the ears. Hide in plain sight make everything else more obvious so you were overlooked just in comparison. That was what he'd learned to do to avoid being spotted and to make people less supsicious of him. Luckily it seemed to work on these racists as well as long as they thought he was one of their own. Now he had a problem to solve, how would he act when he"woke up". Try to play the scared child? Or maybe try to act skittish then get comfortable around food? Yet neither option really worked well they'd make the people to invested in getting him better. So his only choice was to play the card that made him sick to his stomach.

_White Fang Mistral Head Quarters._  
Sienna sat on her throne as her attendants went about their business. Her honor guard posted up along the walls and behind her as they should be. The main door was open for people of the organization to come in to deliver information, ask questions, or bring forth complaints. Yet the positioning was set to make her seem stronger and more like a ruler to make people put their faith in her. Or at least that's what some of her advisors had suggested mixed with the open throne room to make her seem kind enough to listen when needed. The problem was what was currently sat infront of her at this current moment.

The blonde girl sat before her was not infact a faunus, but a human child who's matted hair had made it seem as though she had a second pair of ears. Now normally she would've just tossed out the girl, but she knew the responsibility of picking up an orphan faunus or not. And unlike others this child had also been through what they had as well. Yet the cold dead grey eyes looking back at her emotionlessly chilled her. After the girl had devoured the food provided and bathed quickly they had gotten to see how broken the kid was. She was currently prostating herself infront of Sienna her bag of clothes and what little valuables pushed forward almost like a gift. As the blonde girl spoke in a less broken, but more neutral tone. "Thank you Mam for saving me, as I've promised all I have is yours. I know it isn't enough to repay you for the food or the change of clothes, but it is all I have."

Sienna noticed even the few more bigotted of her honor guard looked uncomfortable with how dead inside the child sounded. Especially since they all knew the girl was planning to leave as soon as Sienna accepted her payment. Like she expected to be kicked out after her value was lost it really struck home the fact that they weren't they only ones suffering. Humans were just as horrible to their own kind's undesirables as they were to Faunus. Yet Sienna had personally never seen a child as hollow looking as the girl before her in her 24 years of living. She was about to speak when the child seemed to tense up and then immediately slam her head further into the ground. "I'm so sorry I can't believe I almost tried to have you touch such a dirty bag." The gir shuffled on her knees and opened the rutsack laying out the contents neatly on the floor. 2 sets of clothes that looked much to large for her, a dagger, a small pile of single lien chips, and what looked to be a single tiny vial of dust. 

The contents raised questions, but the sheer force the small child had bowed brought more haunting ones. What had the child been through to react that self violently at a percieved slight that wasn't even voiced. When she looked to the blonde girl she saw blood dripping from the girl's forehead onto her sprawled hair. It looked like the girl was trying to use her hair to prevent the blood from staining the floor. No one in the room felt comfortable with this display, some of the faunus with kids of their own were watching in stone faced horror at how the child was acting. Sienna knew for a fact that none of the people in the honor guard had been as badly off as this girl seemed to have been. But the problem now was what to do about this human child. The normal reaction of her new regime to a human in their presences would've been vacating the human or thoroughly beating them into the ground. But this case wasn't normal in the least and harming children was not something Sienna would stand for.

The tiger faunus finally decided on a course of actions, as their movement accomplished things she too would start from the beginning step information gather. Her voice was powerful yet quieter then normal as she didn't wish to be mistaken for threatening the child. "How did you end up on the road before child?" She calmly questioned the power of her voice carrying the words far in the audio tuned room. The little girl looked up and Sienna Khan was met again with those hollow dead dark grey eyes. A confused tilt of the head shifted the blonde hair to reveal the busted forehead of the child whose blonde locks were now tainted with her own blood. "I lost my home, then was forced into another where I was chased out by those that lived there, then chased by violent men for trying to take some of their goods so I could survive, and I've been attempting to find a town that'll take me for however long I can get before I am enevitably kicked out again. I apologize if my presence on that road has caused you problems I had run out of food and had hoped to find a ride into Mistral as I've heard they have places called homeless shelters were it's rumored they give free food to any who need it." The words were spoken with no inflection and seemed to be a neutral statement of fact versus a story.

Sienna winced inperceptably at the rather critical way that was all stated. Like it was just an accepted fact that no one would want the child in their town long enough for her to survive. Even worse the lack of interest at the mention of Homeless shelters the girl spoke about seemed to say the child expected the things to be a malicious rumor meant to give false hope to people. And the fact she was still going towards Mistral with that as a target when it was obvious the child didn't believe the shelters were real it told of how desperate the child was in need of food. If the malnutrition showing on the kids body hadn't already made that perfectly obvious. Sienna wasn't sure what the outcome from her rapidly forming decision would be, but no one in the room seemed comfortable with keeping or throwing out the child. So it was up to her to decide. "Child what is your name?" Dull grey eyes looked up at the High leader as blood clotted upon the eyelashes of the child. "Jane, Jane Arc" 


End file.
